New figures show that the deadliest strain, meningococcal C, is hitting Victoria harder than any other state.

The number of Victorians struck by the C strain jumped a staggering 930 per cent in the two years to 2000, and has dropped only slightly since. Doctors are at a loss to explain why.

Almost 400,000 doses of a new vaccine for meningococcal C have been sold across Australia since hitting pharmacy shelves two weeks ago.

Up to half have been bought by Victorians.

The Royal Children's Hospital emergency department has been inundated with parents panicking after children showed minor symptoms.

And poor families are forced to prioritise on children's vaccinations.

Dr Jenny Royle, a pediatrician at the Royal Children's Hospital's immunisation service, said the $70 vaccine was expensive.

"Some families can't afford to immunise all of their children at once, and they are finding that decision intolerable," Dr Royle said.

Stocks of meningococcal C vaccines had been depleted since May after a worldwide surge in demand. Baxter Health Care broke the drought with 450,000 doses of NeisVac-C last month.

But weekly shipments have been ordered to cope with continuing demand.

The Meningococcal Association of Australia's new website had more than 80,000 hits in its first month.

President Joe MacManamon said the association planned to set up a 24-hour meningococcal hotline next year.

Strain B of meningococcal disease is more common Australia-wide, though strain C causes more deaths.

But Victoria has bucked the trend.

Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre infectious diseases physician Dr Bryan Speed said: "In Victoria, we have proportionally more Cs than other states -- there's no apparent rhyme or reason for that."

Department of Human Services director of disease control Dr John Carnie said fluctuations occurred worldwide, but could not be explained.

The latest death occurred less than a week after the disease killed Tullamarine mother of two Colleen Spinner, 44, on Monday last week.

Department of Human Services spokesman Bram Alexander would not reveal details of the new victim, at the family's request.

Meningococcal C rates in Victoria rose from a record low of seven cases in 1998 to a record high of 72 cases in 2000, before falling to 56 cases last year.

Victoria has had 53 cases of meningococcal C this year, compared with 36 in NSW, 35 in Queensland, 14 in Tasmania, six in South Australia, four in the ACT and three in Western Australia.

In Victoria in 1990, only one person died from meningococcal disease and 61 cases of various strains were reported.

In 2000, 13 people died from 162 cases.